Editorials |
From the Cardiovascular Division and Channing Laboratory (F.M.S.), the Department of Medicine, Brigham and Womens Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, Mass; the Cardiovascular Nutrition Laboratory (A.L.), Jean Mayer USDA Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging, Tufts University, Boston, Mass; the Department of Preventive Medicine, Feinberg School of Medicine (L.V.H.), Northwestern University, Chicago, Ill; Mid America Heart Institute of St. Lukes Health System (W.H.), Kansas City, Mo; and the Departments of Nutritional Sciences and Integrative Biosciences (P.K.-E.), the Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pa. M.W. is an AHA consultant.
Correspondence to Frank M. Sacks, MD, Department of Nutrition, Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, MA 02115. E-mail fsacks{at}hsph.harvard.edu
| Introduction |
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In October 1999, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved labeling for foods containing soy protein as protective against coronary heart disease.2 The FDA based this decision on clinical studies showing that at least 25 g soy protein per day lowered total and LDL cholesterol. The FDA requires for the claim that a serving contain at least 6.25 g soy protein, 25% of the necessary daily amount, 25 g, expecting that foods containing soy protein would be eaten at least 4 times per day. The FDA also stated, "the evidence did not support a significant role for soy isoflavones in cholesterol-lowering effects of soy protein."
In 2000, the AHA Nutrition Committee released a scientific advisory on soy protein and CVD.3 Since then, many well-controlled studies on soy protein and soy-derived isoflavones substantially added to the knowledge base. This scientific advisory report assesses the more recent work published on soy protein and its component isoflavones, focusing on blood LDL cholesterol and other cardiovascular disease risk factors, HDL cholesterol, triglycerides, lipoprotein(a), and blood pressure. The medical literature was searched comprehensively for original research publications on the effects of soy protein or isoflavones on cardiovascular disease risk factors, and all controlled trials that separately listed soy protein and isoflavone content were used. Most studies exchanged soy protein for other dietary proteins, and this evidence is evaluated in this report. Much less is known about the potential impact on risk factors for CVD of increasing total protein intake by adding soy or other plant protein in place of carbohydrate or fat; this important dietary change is currently being studied.
Animal proteins raise blood cholesterol concentrations in several animal species fed cholesterol-free semi-synthetic diets.4,5 Casein, the most prevalent protein in milk, has been the most often used, although other animal proteins such as pork and beef protein do the same. In contrast, when soy protein is substituted for the animal protein, hypercholesterolemia does not occur. Diets similar to those eaten by humans, based on either soy protein or casein, were fed to rabbits, and casein produced hypercholesterolemia as expected.6 However, when the same diets were fed to healthy people, the protein source did not affect blood cholesterol.6,7 In the late 1970s and early 1980s, Sirtori and colleagues found that diets high in soy protein, replacing nearly all the animal protein, substantially reduced blood cholesterol by 20% to 30% in severe hypercholesterolemia.8 Because the soy protein diets were also reduced in saturated fat and cholesterol and increased in polyunsaturated fat, and because the patients also often lost weight on the dietary protocols, the results were often confounded.
A meta-analysis published in 1995 found a trend that soy protein selectively reduced blood cholesterol in direct proportion to the degree of hypercholesterolemia.9 For example, in those with severely elevated blood cholesterol (>335 mg/dL), soy protein reduced blood cholesterol by 20%, but if the initial blood cholesterol was <255 mg/dL, there was no significant effect. This meta-analysis was limited by the quality of the studies; studies were less well-controlled in people with hypercholesterolemia than in those with average cholesterol levels.
| Effects of Soy Protein with Isoflavones |
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3% (weighted average). A recent meta-analysis that included 10 studies published from 1995 to 2002 found a similar percentage reduction in LDL cholesterol with no dose effect.37 Over all studies listed in Table 1 in the Advisory statement by Sacks et al1, there is no apparent dose effect; the 8 studies with soy protein 50 g or more showed a similar drop in LDL cholesterol concentration to those using a smaller amount of soy,
3% overall. This cut point for daily soy protein intake, 50 g, defines a large amount, half or more of the daily average total protein intake in the US. No significant effects were evident on HDL cholesterol or triglycerides in most of the studies; the weighted average effects were very small, +1.5% for HDL cholesterol and 5% for triglycerides. | Soy Protein Without Isoflavones |
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| Isoflavone Effects |
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| Influence of Initial Blood LDL-Cholesterol Level |
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| Influence of Serum Cholesterol-Lowering Diet |
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| Effects on Lipoprotein(a) |
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| Effects on Blood Pressure |
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| Effects on Health Conditions Related to Estrogens |
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| Conclusions |
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| Acknowledgments |
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None.
| References |
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